Mop yarn and mop made therefrom



Paiented Oct. 22, 194e UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOP YARN AND MOP MADE THEREFROM Walter S. Briggs, Needham, Mass. Application August 11, 1945, Serial No. 610,313

4 Claims. (Cl. 57-153) This invention relates to mops and mop yarn and more especially to such yarn as is to be used in so-called wet mops or swabs.

Mop yarns comprising cotton or'other spun fibers are subject to serious objections, among which are'the following. Unless they have been treated, as by bleaching, to remove certain waxy constituents, they absorb water only slowly and to a very [limited amount. If so treated, the strength of the yarn is impaired, Mop yarn as heretofore fabricated by plying or twisting together a plurality of yarns or aggregatesl of fibers suffers from the serious defect that it tends to unravel or untwist during use, in consequence of which the fibers constituting the yarns are shed by the mop as it is being used, and the mop is worn Iout in a comparatively short time, especially when subjected to such customary manipulations as repeated soaking in water and passage through squeeze rolls. Also the yarns tangle in use and they absorb and .hold dirt, which with water, becomes sour and musty, and the mop yarn mildews.

The present invention has for objects to provide a mop yarn free from certain ofthe foregoing objections and greatly improved as to others.

In accordance with the present invention, the useful life of mop yarn for wet mops is greatly prolonged and its water absorptivity greatly en'- hanced by bonding its bers and yarns in the desired, usually twisted, relationship, at their outer surfaces, by an outer sponge covering in such manner that they do not tend to unravel or untwist in use. Such sponge material may, for example, be sponge cellulose hydrate. Such sponge material rmly adheres to the core yarns and not only prevents them' from becoming unraveled or untwisted in use, but it also imparts an additional stiffness when dry and body when wet which prevents the yarns in the mop from entangling. The sponge material also protects thecore yarn strands from abrasion so that they do not easily become frayed and break olf. Further, and more particularly the cellulose hydrate 2 immersion. The sponge material absorbs water very rapidly and at the same time acts-as a filter to prevent dirt from going through 4it and reaching the core strand material. When exposed to the air after wetting, the sponge material dries out rapidly, thus tending to prevent the mop yarn from becoming sour and,musty and 'from mildew, The sponge material of itself,

however, is somewhat non-resistant to abrasion but when reinforced by the core in the completed yarn, the sponge material is held so firmly together that it is highly resistant to abrasion and attrition. The mop made from such material is sponge material, has a very high absorptive capability such that a mop having strands about onehalf the diameter of which comprise the cotton core yarn, and the other part of which comprise the sponge material, is capable of absorbing substantially four to'six times its weight of Water, th sponge covering itself absorbing up to twenty times its own weight when immersed in water, whereas the cotton yarn by itself would hardly absorb more than its own weight, even after long therefore eminently suited for its intended purpose, and has long wear.

For a complete understanding of this invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the head of a mop constructed in accordance with this invention. y Y Y Figure 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly broken away of a mop yarn of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of such a yarn.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Figures 2 and 3, the mop material comprises a foundation of cotton yarn or other spun fiber of any suitable type but shown as formed of a plurality of strands 2 twisted together. To the outer face of this material is applied one or more coatings of spongematerial, preferably of cellulose hydrate, as obtained by the coagulation on the core material of a mass consisting substantially of viscose, and a meltable or soluble pore forming substance such as, for example, an inorganic crystalline salt, as sodium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, or salts, of volatile bases like ammonium sulfate. Such sponge material may be produced in accordance with any of the following United States patents: Pum et al., No. 1,142,619; Mostny, No. 1,611,056; and Pfannenstiel et al., No. 1,909,629. Preferably the material of which the sponge is to be made is extruded onto the strand material. The core strand `material may be first moistened with an alkaline liquid which produces a superficial mercerization or a swelling and renumber oi' strands of this completed material are then associated together to form the mop head as shown in Figure 1.

The resultant mop yarn is considerably lighter than one of the same volume composed entirely of cotton strands, but its absorptivity is several times as great, the strands are not liable to become entangled with each other, and the mop remains in sanitary condition over an extended period of service much longer than a mop composed of cotton or spun strands alone.

From the foregoing description of an embodiment of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made Without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

I claim y 1. A mop yarn consisting of a core yarn having a surface coating of substantial thickness intimately bonded thereto and completely surrounding said core yarn for its entire length, said coating consisting substantially of a cellulose sponge mass bonding the bers of the core yarn together, and providing a filtering casing for said core yarn of much greater water-absorptivity than said core yarn and strengthened and reinforced by such core yarn against attrition and holding adjacent strands against entangling contact with each other when associated together in a mop.

2. .A mop yarn consisting of a twisted core yarn having a surface coating of substantial thickness intimately bonded thereto and completely surrounding said core yarn for its entire length, said coating comprising a. cellulose hydrate sponge mass bonding the fibers of the yarn together and preventing the core yarn from becoming untwisted in use, and providing a ltering casing for said core yarn of much greater absorptivity than said core yarn and strengthened and reinforced by said core yarn against attrition.

3. A mop comprising strands of the structure set forth in claim 1.

4. A mop comprising strands of the structure set forth in claim 2.

WALTER S. BRIGGS. 

